North Carolina Name Former Denver Nuggets Coach As Their New Head Coach

For quite some time, there has been plenty of speculation over the future head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels, with many from Stephen A. Smith to the Inside the NBA crew weighing in on their coaching search. Recently, speculation surrounded Chicago Bulls Head Coach Billy Donovan, and given the high-profile nature of the role, there's no doubting that other big names were involved in their search.

After all of that talk, they did indeed end up going with a very well-respected former NBA head coach, as ESPN is now reporting that UNC officially intends to hire Michael Malone as their next head coach.

This is a massive splash for the Tar Heels, as they bring in NBA Championship-winning experience in Malone to take over the role from Hubert Davis, who went 125-54 over his five years in the role. Now, UNC turns to Malone, a coach that has a record of 510-394 in his NBA career as a head coach with Denver and Sacramento, and before his firing in 2024-25, he saw the Nuggets win at least one round in five of their last six seasons under Malone.

Clearly, something wasn't working in Denver, as Malone was fired late in the season with a record of 47-32, but given his experience and his success, it's easy to see why the Tar Heels made this decision. Only time will tell if this was the right call, as Malone has never been a head coach at the NCAA level, but if he can bring his success from Denver, UNC may be in for some very successful seasons moving forward.